FineScale Modeler September/October 2022

My hope is that if you are reading this magazine, it is because you enjoy building models. Chances are that you, like me, have told friends and family that modeling is fun. Chances are equally good that a high percentage of that audience seems skeptical that spending hours at the workbench gluing parts together and obsessing over small details is fun. How many times have you said to someone, “I wish I could show you how much fun modeling is,” or “You’d enjoy it if you gave it a chance.” Well, now’s your chance. As part of International Build a Model Month (coming in November), FSM is challenging readers to introduce a newbie to the fun of the hobby. Grab a child, grandchild, parent, spouse, friend, or neighbor and build something…

Where are the modern F1 cars? I look forward to your magazine and the online videos are great! My interest is in race cars and military aircraft. Why are there so few new Formula One kits on the market? Tamiya no longer releases a series of kits like they did a long time ago. How about someone releasing kits that represent the latest F1 cars? After all, it is becoming a spec series like NASCAR. – Wade Middleton Highlands Ranch, Colo. Ed.: It does appear that if you are looking to model recent Formula One cars, Revell Germany is the only option. Maybe other model companies will read your letter and put some others into the starting grid. – Aaron Skinner About HMS Victory and Testors I’m a long time subscriber to FSM and I have…

AIRCRAFT 1/48 SCALE Lockheed P-38J Lightning from Tamiya, No. 61123, $81. AF-3S Guardian ‘MAD Boom’ from Special Hobby, No. SH48194, $57.90. Sopwith Camel Comic from Eduard, No. 82175, $39.95. 1/72 SCALE Nakajima Ki-84 Hayate (Expert Set) from Arma Hobby, No. 70051, $35. WBR SAAB J-21A from Special Hobby, No. SH72215, $24. Mirage F.1B/BE from Special Hobby, No. SH72291, $22.70. Junkers Ju 87D-5/N/D-8 Night Attack Stukas from Special Hobby, No. SH72458, $22.70. F-6C Mustang Expert Set from Arma Hobby, No. 70040, $35. ARMOR 1/16 SCALE PzKpfw.III Ausf. tank 3 in 1 from Model Rectifier Corp/Gallery Models, No. 64011, $199.98. 1/35 SCALE Jagdtiger 128mm PaK L66/88mm PaK L71 2 in 1 from Takom, No. 8008, $62.95. StuH 42 & StuG III Ausf G Early Production 2 in 1 from Takom, No. 8009, $49.95. Ersatz M7 2 in 1 from Takom, No. 8007, $49.95. WBR Flakpanzer V ‘Kugelblitz’ from Takom, No.…

The legendary Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX, to my mind, counts as one of the most elegant World War II fighter designs. How could it not, with its smooth aerodynamic lines, elliptical wing, and thin profile? Being Czech, I wanted to model the Spitfire DU-L MJ931 flown by Flying Officer Ladislav Světlík, a member of No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, during the first half of 1944. In this aircraft, he shot down Lt. Georg Kiefner of I./JG 26 who piloted an Fw 190A. After the war, Světlík became a Czechoslovak Airlines captain. In 1950, he helped plan and execute the famous coordinated escape flight of three Douglas DC-3s from then-communist Czechoslovakia to U.S.-controlled Erding Air Base near Munich, Germany. FINAL THOUGHTS AT LAST, it was time to assemble the whole from the many subassemblies. For the…

With the Apollo 17 landing in December 1972, the race to the moon between the United States and Soviet Union ended. Seven months earlier, U.S President Richard Nixon and Soviet General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev, met at the Moscow Summit to sign the Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I). While there, they signed a second accord for a joint U.S.-Soviet manned space flight. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project marked the first international space mission where an American spacecraft would rendezvous and dock with a Soviet craft. The crews would meet in orbit, exchange greetings, and visit each other’s spacecraft. The Apollo crew was commanded by Gen. Tom Stafford along with astronauts Deke Slayton and Vance Brand. The Soyuz 19 crew was commanded by Alexei Leonov (the first human to walk in space) and…

My modeling includes almost every subject from aircraft and tanks to cars, submarines, anatomical, and sci-fi. Having modeled since the 1960s, I’m fond of both new and classic kits and don’t mind a bit of flash, sink marks, or other imperfections if the subject is right. On the other hand, when modeling armor, I like tanks with hatches open. Of course, for both modern kits and older ones, too, this means a fine view of a totally empty interior — a less than ideal result on an otherwise good-looking replica. In the mid 1970s, Monogram released a line of 1/32 armor kits, including several German Panzer IV variants, the M3 Lee/Grant, and early production M4 and M4A1 Shermans. As a boy who liked 1/32 scale and both the M3 and M4, these…